The company said the ReNoir Next is a more affordable version of Reggiani’s ReNoir, aimed at entry-level buyers.
It uses the same ink as the flagship machine and has a 1.8m-wide beltless digital printing system with a speed of up to 200sqm per hour.
EFI vice-president of sales, EMEA operations Paul Cripps said the new machine would retail at less than €200,000 (£140,000), adding that it was "a clean-sheet redesign" of the more expensive model.
“Not only will it be a lower price but it will have ReNoir quality. From that perspective it’s very exciting. It opens up the soft signage, banner advertising and flag markets.”
He said the new printer had been in development at Reggiani before its acquisition by EFI in July. But he added that “having the EFI channel made this platform even more important” so the company ensured it was ready to be revealed at ‘Drupa of textile’ ITMA in Milan, Italy, which opens tomorrow (12 November) and runs for one week.
“In graphics there were a handful of printers who actually have these types of volumes who could afford the Reggiani technology,” Cripps added. “This comes in at a significantly lower price point. It will provide a significant degree of flexibility. It prints on transfer, on banners and signs. It opens up a wondrous new opportunity for the growing EFI customer base."
EFI is keen to leverage its sign and graphics customer base to cross-sell Reggiani’s textile printers to new markets.
“A number of our Vutek customers and some of the other customers are coming to ITMA there are interested in the textile industry and we have our calendars booked,” Cripps said.
“We’ve got a lot of our customers that coming in to see Reggiani for the first time with EFI glasses. There has been enough of a draw in terms of soft signage.
“They are looking for a greener and cleaner image, using water-based inks. This offers a much more stable image than latex print. We expect to do well.“
Meanwhile, at SGIA in Atlanta, US, last week, EFI unveiled its fastest Vutek yet, the EFI Vutek HS125 Pro, a 3.2m-wide hybrid roll/flatbed printer, which builds on its HS100 Pro printer, and runs at up to 125 boards per hour.
The company claims the machine has “true analogue replacement capabilities with quality approaching offset”.
The EFI Vutek GS3LX Pro LED printer, a faster version of the GS50LX, is a 3.2m-wide hybrid which the company said offers high print speeds, high-resolution grayscale imaging and LED cool curing technology, along with maximum versatility to support higher volumes and shorter lead times.
Cripps said it was “a new product that’s extremely fast and has better technology”.
"We’re very excited about the launch. It’s phenomenal. The new models have the speed and image quality our customers expect. They want to see us continue to build faster and more productive technology,” he said.
Also new is the entry-level 1.65m-wide EFI H1625-SD, a UV hybrid printer with EFI’s SuperDraw UV ink for, the company said, “near-photographic imaging direct to thermoformable substrates”.
EFI has also released Armor, a new range of UV roll and water-based coatings to market. It offers three- to five-year weather and chemical protection on rigid, flexible and thermoformable inkjet graphics output, EFI said.
Both the Vutek HS125 Pro and Vutek GS3LX Pro printers feature new UltraFX technology, an, inline clear print capability that EFI said enhances the visual impact of printed images.
Cripps said that Vuteks are 10-colour, CMYK, CMYK light and two white but that UltraFX allowed printers to use four colours only with confidence.
“With the traditional GS50LX You did lose some resolution with four colours,” he said. “It’s now a four-colour printer and you just used eight colours now and again, it’s that good. It has a much higher rate and holds resolution.”
Cripps would not be drawn on plans for Fespa or Drupa next year. But he hinted at more new launches.
He said: “I’m sure we’ll have something up our sleeve for Fespa. And of course Drupa is always extremely important to EFI. We’re going to show many great things at Drupa.”
All this month’s EFI launches will be available in the UK in Q1 next year.
